Weekend talking points
Time to blow whistle on referees' bosses
Greg Prichard The ARL Commission has got to blow up the refereeing department at the end of the season and start again.
Decision pending for Origin III referees but panel wants stability
Greg Prichard REFEREES Tony Archer and Ben Cummins and video referee Steve Clark appear likely to remain in charge for what is arguably the biggest game in State of Origin history.
Ward given keys to make right call
Greg Prichard VETERAN video referee Chris Ward, who made the biggest decision by an upstairs official in NRL history, has been brought back into the front line by the man who asked him to make that call in the...
Greenberg won't hold back lofty ambitions
Greg Prichard Canterbury are making plans to parlay their success on the field this season into something huge off it.
Barba's shop expected to remain open, but trade could be limited
Greg Prichard 1. Will Ben Barba replicate his Dally M player of the year form in the finals?
Raiders' resurgence provides fans a dash of the Green Machine's glory days
Greg Prichard There is something about Canberra that makes you love them when they are on fire.
Time for Tigers, Sheens to go in different ways
Greg Prichard 1 One of the things proved by the sorry exit of Wests Tigers over the last two rounds - apart from the fact they weren't up to it this year and the team and coach Tim Sheens have been together too...
Different video ref always the plan
Greg Prichard REFEREES bosses Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper always planned to use a different video referee in each of the three State of Origin games this year.
Talking points
Tigers’ Woods more than ready to tee off in Origin
Greg Prichard The performances of Aaron Woods and Keith Galloway for Wests Tigers in the rain against Melbourne was a reminder of how valuable they might be against Queensland on Wednesday, particularly since the...
League
Old gripe about refs, same old result for Smith's plucky Roosters
Greg Prichard To their credit, Sydney Roosters coach Brian Smith and captain Braith Anasta said controversial decisions by the match officials - the majority of which went against their side - didn't cost them the...
State of Origin
Harrigan backs refs to stay cool in battle
Greg Prichard BILL HARRIGAN says he and fellow referees' boss Stuart Raper have not felt compelled to warn tonight's Origin whistle-blowers to ignore what has been reported in the media leading into the game or to...
Roosters keep minds on job as Tigers fightback falls just short
Greg Prichard At the end of a tragic day for Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah and his family, his team still had to play a football game..
Golden opportunity for critics to grumble was just a rare game
Greg Prichard WHY has one rare game in which golden point extra-time didn't produce a result prompted a push to either get rid of the concept or change the rules altogether?
League
Bellamy storms to club's defence
Greg Prichard Now it's war between Melbourne and Canberra, with Storm coach Craig Bellamy accusing the Raiders of criticising his club's tackling technique because Canberra is a club under pressure and Raiders...
Raiders chief gets raw with Storm on 'chin strap' tackles
Greg Prichard NOW it's war between Melbourne and Canberra, with Storm coach Craig Bellamy accusing the Raiders of criticising his club's tackling technique because Canberra are a club under pressure - and Raiders...
Bennett seeks an explanation
Greg Prichard Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett is covering all the angles heading into Friday night's big game against unbeaten competition leaders Melbourne at AAMI Park.
Tigers left stunned as Inglis wobbler crowns comeback
Greg Prichard When you see Tim Sheens looking haunted after his Wests Tigers team had gone to bank a win only to lose the two points somewhere between the entrance and the counter, you are motivated to ask - why...
Dirty Des hits out at lop-sided crime count
Greg Prichard CANTERBURY coach Des Hasler was fuming over a 7-2 penalty count against his team in yesterday's loss to South Sydney, and Bulldogs captain Michael Ennis made it clear he thought referees were...
An ugly game, but a win doesn't have to be pretty
Greg Prichard If it wasn't the game from hell, it was from a place nearby. But they can't all be jewels, and one of the beautiful things about rugby league is that even if you play ugly but manage to win, it's...
Gallen cops it again as Souths star lashes out
Greg Prichard AFTER being injured and placed on report in the loss to South Sydney on Monday night, Cronulla captain Paul Gallen again found himself in the firing line yesterday, when Rabbitohs star and fellow...
